JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

June 2004

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U.S. District Court Rejects the Forest Service's Issuance of Special-Use Permits Without  Bypass Flow Requirements
Trout Unlimited v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, et al., ___F.Supp.2d___

In a decision filed April 30, 2004, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado reversed the decision of the U.S. Forest Service to issue an easement for Long Draw Reservoir without requiring bypass flows to protect aquatic habitat on La Poudre Pass Creek, a tributary of the Cache la Poudre River in Northern Colorado. The District Court in its order on complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief found that the Forest Service was authorized to impose bypass flows as a condition to the use of federal lands and that, in this instance, the Forest Service was arbitrary and capricious in not imposing bypass flows when clear evidence in the record indicated they would have furthered the purposes of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).